After reading this weekend how the "reformers" tried to do an end run and grab control of Waterfront and East High I heard some pretty worthwhile points to ponder from people better read than I am on these topics. For openers this didn't just spring up out of the ground or from James Williams' armpit, this little attempted coup has been in the works since I believe December someone said the papers had to have been filed. And are we to believe that NONE of our Board members had any inkling of this end run ? They huffed and puffed in a fairly convincing fashion for the Buffalo News but c'mon. It's no secret there are a few members who are very much enamored of the charters. It's been quite a while since anyone has heard much from the big thinkers over at DeformED's thinktank or braintrust or whatever it is. A peep from their policy scribe but I suspect it was just a rehash of what he read at the Board meeting. And where has the delightful Mr. Radford been lately ? Subterranean would be too mild a word. The guy has not been seen or heard from is a peculiarly long interval for him. So which of the Board members are in collusion with this? Don't know but from what I've seen if the way they threw themselves on the floor in supplication to Constance Moss when she unveiled her charter school for girls plan you can pretty much guess.
Finally, I think it's da first of the month
Do all the districts in New York State have their teacher evaluation plans submitted like they were told to? O.k. I just clicked until my hand went numb on the state's tracker which is linked on my bloglist. I counted a whopping 7 districts who've submitted a plan. None are approved. No districts in Erie Cattaraugus, Orleans or Niagara Counties have submitted anything. Is King still trying to hold Buffalo hostage with his Race to the Bottom money and if so when is the referendum on his sorry leadership attempts?
According to edlaw 2851:(q) " Evidence of adequate community support for and interest in the charter school sufficient to allow the school to reach its anticipated enrollment, and an assessment of the projected programmatic and fiscal impact of the school on other public and nonpublic schools in the area."
ReplyDeleteSo, let's assume that the evidence of adequate community support will be the 100, give or take, random parents who follow Sam Radford. Now, I think the actual parental buy-in must be from the parents in the actual schools. So, Sam and the charter proposers must be spending the non-profit money from Dfer and ReformEd to sway opinion. WE know these people have a lot of $$$$. Just look at how Eva Moskowitz in NYC spends for advertising. NONE of this is grassroots. ALL of it is political. And like all political games, the outcome will rest on who has the most money. We know the same local players are evident here. The "non-profit?" entity that Polowitz has used to further his personal charter agenda is called the Chameleon Community Schools Project. It is headed by a former Buffalo Niagara Partnership person. And that alone should tip you off to some of the silent partners here. Do the names Wilmers, Rudnick, ring a bell? Look at todays loving editorial ode to Rudnick and the Partnership and you will know where the News stands in all of this. Chameleon? Maybe "reptilian" would be a better description.
Correction: Rudnick got his butt kissed in the News yesterday, not today.
ReplyDeleteRudnick once attempted to squeeze me on Elmwood behind city hall where the lane seems to disappear as you head south. As he was driving a very pretty car and I was in my 94 Suburban there was no impetus for me to yield a lane I was all ready in and he seemed to think he should be in. Those luxury cars fortunately for the bowtied one have excellent braking capabilities. That aside, I know brushes with mediocrity are always fun, I suspect someone must be hard at work promising patronage jobs to parents, you know those cool clipboard and the sportspage gigs where some parent sits in the boys or girls lav all day and somehow they fund it with Jackson Pollock like creativity. Also there must be food somewhere. The most raucous and over attended parent's night I have ever seen was when Mid Erie had a counseling satellite in my building and needed to spend some money they had left. A Swiss Chalet chicken dinner was given top billing and there wasn't a parking space for miles. Let's just see what they're serving. I also tend to look at this situation as a win win. For one the "reformers:" have shown their hand as the sneaky self serving turds that they are while still trying to prop up their facade about this being for the parents and kids. Let's just say they work their magic and get their way. It will be fun watching Sam Radford get shunted aside and told thanks for the ride, sucker. As it stands something tells me this is going to backfire. There are so many possible potholes for the reformers I think this may be more than their genteel educational sensibilities are ready for. So they get their way and are quickly overwhelmed by the realities of a true urban school population or it all blows up in their face and they have given whatever element of surprise they thought they had in their favor. This was a one trick pony and they won't be able to do it again the way they did it this time, People will always be watching as well they should.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know exactly what the "punishment" is for missing the SED July 1 deadline to submit an APPR? Money is attached to the Jan. 17th deadline, correct?
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